France ups its number of troops to Lebanon - Africa & Middle East - International Herald Tribune

PARIS — President Jacques Chirac of France increased his country's commitment of troops to Lebanon on Thursday amid mounting criticism that France had failed to do enough to police a cease-fire that it had helped broker.

In a televised address, Chirac said France would contribute two battalions, bringing the number of French soldiers on the ground in Lebanon to 2,000, after obtaining guarantees from the United Nations on how the forces would operate.

At the same time, Chirac repeated a French offer to lead the mission. "France is ready, if the United Nations wishes it, to continue to command this force," Chirac said, adding that the numbers of troops could be revised over the next six months.

Italy, which has promised up to 3,000 soldiers, previously had been the only country to step forward with a sizable commitment, and it, too, has offered to lead the mission.

Under a UN resolution this month, the UN peacekeeping force for Lebanon is to be bolstered from its current level of 1,990 soldiers to 15,000 to police the fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah that ended 34 days of fierce fighting.

Europe is under pressure to commit troops in part because contributions from some countries that are predominantly Muslim are unacceptable to Israel. But doubts persist as to whether the Europeans are prepared to match their calls for peace in the Middle East with the necessary military commitment.

Chirac called for a fair division of labor in creating a peacekeeping force. "I have talked to my colleagues in order to convince them to play their part in this," he said.

President George W. Bush told the Italian prime minister, Romano Prodi, by telephone that Washington was leaning on other allies to provide troops, and he spoke of his "positive" view of Italy's offer to lead the force.

"I expect that reluctant or not, smiling or not, there will be an ample European contribution," Prodi said in an interview with RAI state radio, according to Reuters.

"Bush is making a strong effort to put pressure on friendly countries in order to broaden the number of participants in the mission," Prodi said in a statement.

The Finnish foreign minister, Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said Thursday that reinforcements for the UN peacekeeping force could be imminent.

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European governments are apprehensive that peacekeepers could come under fire from both Israeli and Hezbollah forces. A key obstacle to the deployment has been the demand by European governments for clear rules on when peacekeepers can open fire and disarm fighters.

The existing peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, called Unifil, operates largely as an observer mission.

Another reason for caution among the Europeans, and the French in particular, is their bloody history in recent peacekeeping operations.

France lost soldiers during peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and in Rwanda a dozen years ago. France also lost 58 peacekeepers in an attack by Hezbollah in Beirut in 1983 that also killed 241 Americans.

The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, is expected to present more robust rules of engagement for new peacekeepers on Friday at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, according to a report in the French daily Le Monde.

But Massimo D'Alema, the Italian foreign minister, suggested Thursday in Rome that rules of engagement were already clear enough because the UN had authorized the force to use weapons in self-defense and to defend civilians.

"If the international forces find themselves confronted with acts of hostility, they should inevitably react with force, as shown by the international mandate," said D'Alema.

"If somebody violates the 'Blue Line' with hostile acts, the international forces should react as foreseen by the rules of engagement," D'Alema said.

D'Alema pledged Italy's willingness to enforce the UN resolution on Lebanon and urged other EU member states to do the same because the stability of the Middle East should be a chief concern for Europeans.

"We are convinced that this could represent a change for the entire region," said D'Alema at a joint press conference in Rome with the Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni.

Livni echoed similar sentiments, saying there "is a window of opportunity for a new era in Lebanon and a chance to change the rules of the game." She said that the "interests of Lebanon and Israel are the same as that of the international community."

James Kanter of the International Herald Tribune reported from Paris and Peter Kiefer of The New York Times from Rome.